Anders Petersen (historian)
Anders Petersen (22 December 1827 – 13 August 1914) was a Danish school teacher and the author of many historical, genealogical, and statistical books.
He was born in Bjæverskov, the youngest of four children of farmer Peter Nicolaisen and his wife Marie Nilsdatter Bech. He grew up with the local deacon, and it’s likely this early connection to teaching helped him become a teacher later in life. In his youth he trained as a weaver and worked in several nearby villages, spending a short time in Copenhagen in 1846. His parents’ deaths came early: his father died in 1851 and his mother in 1857.
In 1850 he joined the army and became a non‑commissioned officer in the artillery. The next year his father died, and six years later his mother did. In 1852 he began studying to be a teacher at Jonstrup Seminarium, supported by a stipend from Count Brockenhus Schack. He graduated in 1855. On 12 June 1857 he married Olivia Anine Vilhemine Ømann.
From 1857 to 1886 he worked as a school teacher in Vallø by. He and Olivia had four daughters: Petrine, Agnes, Olga, and Thora. In 1879 Petersen was awarded the Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog. In 1890 he received the Silver Medal of Merit and, after his daughter Agnes married a teacher, he served as best man and church singer at her wedding.
He retired to Køge with his wife and two unmarried daughters. In 1891 he moved to Copenhagen as a retired teacher. By 1901 two of his daughters had died. Even in retirement he stayed active as an author. He is remembered in Danish biographical references and his mail is kept by the Danish National Archives. In 1991, Danish historians organized a fund to reprint his book Sjællands Stifts Degnehistorie, a work valued by genealogists but once very rare.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:53 (CET).